Paramus Back Dr Analyzes 5 Types of Back Pain

1. Flexion dominant back pain

With some exceptions, the term flexion dominant back pain is used in relation to disc injures. Patients that suffer from flexion dominant back pain experience usually describe the same symptoms, which tend to go as follows:

• Pain in the spine or/and legs
• Tingling and numbness
• Leg weakness
• Sharp pain when coughing or sneezing
• Loss of free motion
• Sitting and bending usually makes the pain worse
• Walking or standing reduces pain

Light exercise, such as directional stretches done at regular intervals during the day, can help preserve your spinal range of motion and relieve discomfort, which makes it a very effective treatment for flexion dominant pain. One of our qualified back doctors will decide the best type of exercise for you, but a passive, repetitive extension of the lumbar spine is a common option.

Your physiotherapist will modify your workout to increase its efficacy after every consultation. Manual therapy can also be used to help restore the spinal range of motion, as well as other types of pain management techniques.

2. Extension dominant back pain

Extension dominant back pain is commonly associated with pain to the joints at the back of the spine. These joints are called the zygapophyseal joints, but they are often referred to as Z-joints. Again, this type of pain comes with some very specific symptoms, making it recognizable. These symptoms include:

• Pain after prolonged standing
• A localized pain in the spine
• In most cases, the range of motion is constant, not shifting over short periods of time.
• Constant back stiffness that does not change
• Pain after high-impact exercises, which put stress on the joints
• Sitting or bending provide temporary relief

Treatment for extension dominant pain usually focuses on reducing the pressure on the spine in extension. A common thing you can notice in people that deal with extension dominant pain is that they often have their low back arched when standing.

Abdominal stabilization exercises and hip mobility stretches, and most particularly hip flexor stretches, can prove very beneficial, as well as using flexed postures on an intermittent basis. To avoid issues in the future, you should focus on training the muscles around the spine and your hip muscles.

3. Neurogenic Claudication

Technically speaking, neurogenic claudication is also a type of extension dominant pain, but it often happens to individuals over the age of 60. This type of pain happens when the nerves are compressed due to walking or standing. In severe conditions, it can limit an individual’s ability to perform long walks.

The most common symptoms linked to neurogenic claudication are:

• Pain when rising and walking
• Weakness in the legs after a certain period of time
• No local spine pain is present
• Bending forward may alleviate pain
• Sitting causes no symptoms and may even alleviate pain

Patients dealing with neurogenic claudication have a low walking tolerance and must take repeated breaks to recover. These individuals can find relief with minimally invasive procedures, as well as physical exercise.

Reducing walking distances may also be recommended for a while. This is one of the instances when pushing yourself too much and attempting to fight through the pain can actually do more harm than good.

To avoid decompression surgery, you need to start building your core as soon as the pain becomes less bothersome. This can build abdominal muscle strength, improving support, and reducing sustained lumbar extension during walking.

4. Inflammatory Back Pain

Inflammatory back pain occurs less often than mechanical back pain but can sometimes be misdiagnosed. This form of pain happens due to severe inflammation in the spinal joints, usually as a result of a medical condition that causes the immune system to attack the spine’s joints.

Ankylosing spondylitis is one example of a condition that causes inflammatory back pain, but there are also others.

It is up to the therapist to properly identify inflammation pain and make sure a trained rheumatologist oversees the treatment, which sometimes includes physical therapy as well.

The most common symptoms of inflammatory back pain include:

• Pain that was not caused by trauma, often happening in individuals under the age of 35
• Pain lasts for more than 12 weeks
• Pain becomes worse during the night and morning, or usually after long periods of inactivity
• Gentle physical activity reduces the pain
• Pain goes away with anti-inflammatory medication

Physiotherapy is rarely useful for back pain caused by inflammation. Doctors usually prescribe medication or minimally invasive procedures to alleviate pain and reduce inflammation.

To get rid of your back pain, book an appointment with one of our back specialists – Dr George Hanna, Dr Laura Lombardi, or Dr Shane Volney. You can find us in Paramus, just off NJ-17, near the Paramus Park Mall and the Garden State Plaza Mall. For more information, we are available for phone general inquiries as well – (855) 874-9670.